New Zealand Dunedin / Catlins / Invercargill April 10 - 25

We loaded up the car again and went to Dunedin. We stayed 2 days in Dunedin and spent most of the time exploring Otago Bay. Dunedin is pretty much a college town. It has some beautiful buildings ...in particular the First Church and Octagon region. We found a really neat little restaurant called "Tull" (after the band Jethro Tull). Everything in the restaurant is named after songs from the band. Even the pottery they use was specially made with the image of Ian Anderson on everything. We had a nice dinner there...but they really specialize in desserts!! So, of course we tried some. TWO thumbs up!!

Otago Bay was full of wildlife ...we visited the albatross colony. We saw two baby chicks via the television camera and I saw one albatross fly over...but that was it for the albatross colony. There were a lot of seals though. They were splashing around in a pool below the albatross colony. We then took a 40 minute hike down the beach and stayed in a "hide" to observe the yellow-eyed penguins coming in. It was a lot of fun going down over the dunes (not as much fun going back up though!). We saw about 4 penguins. It turns out the yellow-eyed penguins are solitary animals...they don't hang out in a colony, so each penguin comes in on their own and climbs up on the cliffs to their nest. They really do have yellow eyes! Unfortunately these animals are endangered due to humans, dogs, and cats. The humans have been encroaching on their territory ...and the dogs and cats think the penguins are chew toys.

One thing that really stands out for us about New Zealand is that they are very environmentally aware. They have a lot of rehabilitation areas and well marked signs that keep people informed about the rare wildlife in that area...and Kiwis really do respect their wildlife and landscape.

We left Dunedin and took a scenic coastal drive down to the Catlins. The Catlins is a very undeveloped area...lots of scenic beaches, cliffs, and green hills. There are no banks or restaurants in this area...so we had to bring our own food. That wasn't too much of a problem...but we were at the mercy of whatever the petrol station was selling when we'd run out. They call this area New Zealand's best kept secret. We had to drive through a very long gravel road ...I can't describe the amount of dust that got all over us and inside the trunk of the car!! Our stuff was completely coated with dirt! That's another secret they don't tell you about.

We drove to Curio Bay and made a few stops along the way. One of the stops was at Nugget Point. This area has a lighthouse on the top of a very tall cliff...from below, you can hear the sea lions barking. They call it Nugget Point because of the large rocks that stick out of the water ...they look like "nuggets of gold".

We stayed at the Curio Bay Backpackers right on the beach. The views were really great! Close by, there was a "petrified forest". This area is one of the oldest and most pristine of the fossilized trees from the Jurassic period. It's approximately 180 million years old! We went during low tide and saw the trees and trunks very clearly in the rocks.

We lucked out on our second night at the Curio Bay Backpackers ...we were given an impromtu concert by Nick (the owner) and 2 other guests - Anamika and Felicia. Anamika is a professional harpist and Felicia was her student. They were a very talented group. Nick played the guitar (and sang), Anamika played the harp (absolutely beautiful!), and Felicia played the harp and clarinet. It was quite a treat to hear such beautiful music! That's one thing (music) we really don't get to hear much of on the road ...so we really appreciate it when we have the opportunity.

After 2 days at Curio Bay, we moved onto Papatowai. We stayed at the Hill Top Backpackers ...what a gem! This place is gorgeous! It sits on top of a hill overlooking both the coast and the mountain range. It's also surrounded by sheep, horses and dogs. We woke up to spectacular sunrises! We took several photos ...and even some from our bed!

We were supposed to stay 2 nights, but we ended up staying, and staying, and staying (a total of 4 nights). We were lucky again and had excellent weather. We went to the Cathedral Caves ...way cool! These caves are only accessible at low tide. We ended up zipping off our converter pants and taking off our shoes so that we could run in through the low water. We still got wet. The cave was in a "C" shape with both ends of the "C" leading into the water. A crowd of us ducked in and walked around in the dark, sandy areas of the cave. The best part was the entrance/exit ...where the light showed through.

We also did a 4 hour hike along Catlins River. It was a very scenic trail through dense woods and rainforest. The trail led us up and down along the river ...and at one point there was a bridge that crossed over the river. We had nice lunch out in the woods.

The next day, I took a walk down from the backpackers to a curio shop nearby. It was an amazing store! Basically, they turn junk into moveable art. I walked a little farther down to the beach and found several abalone shells. They're called Paua (I guess that's the Maori name). There are a fair amount of abalone in these waters...and they do eat them around here (but you need a license). I would love to mail all these shells home...but they do weigh a lot ...and sending packages from New Zealand to the U.S.A. probably isn't cheap!

Another nice thing about Hill Top Backpackers is that they have several moutain bikes, wet suits, and boogie boards. And yes...Lon borrowed a wet suit and did some boogie boarding. We also met some great people at Hill Top...namely, Gill from England and Emer from Ireland. We joked about the differences in the English language ...mostly the differences in the way they speak here in New Zealand. So here is our brief list of Kiwi speak:

On the drive out of Catlins, we stopped and did the walk out to McClean Falls. It was more pretty woods, trees, and fauna. There were small cascades and the actual falls. It started to rain ...the first real rain we've experienced out here.

We're in Invercargill at this writing. We're staying a a nice backpacker place called Southern Comfort. It's the same place that Rose Griscom ran 10 years ago while the owners were on holiday. They've expanded a bit since you were here, Rose...but Barry (the cat) is still here!

Invercargill doesn't provide much entertainment, but they do have a nice beach (which people motor on), a very nice park (Queen's Park), and a cool musuem. We liked the museum because you can see the tautara. This is a lizard-like animal that lived back in the dinosaur age. It's another one of those strange animals that are only found here in New Zealand. They have very long life spans...into the hundreds.

We treated ourselves and ate at a VERY nice restaurant called Louies in Invercargill. This place is definitely a 4 pigger! Lon and I had avery good bottle of Pinot Noir (Rippon from Wanaka, New Zealand), homemade bread and roasted garlic, rump of lamb (each)...and for dessert, Lon had a chocolate tart and I had a date pudding with fig compote (out of this world!)...all this for $45.00 U.S.!!!!

region	lodging	$US / night	rating	notes
Catlins	Manor House Backpackers	$16.39		Good location, but noisy neighbors.
	Curio Bay Backpackers	$14.76		Great location. A bit rustic.
	Hill Top Backpackers	$18.45		Fantastic!!
	Southern Comfort	$16.39		Nice, comfortable place (but crowded)
	Louies Restaurant	$45.0		Excellent! Great ambiance & food!